Kremlin says US mediation process on Ukraine is suspended; Washington continues contacts with Moscow and Kyiv.

Mitsubishi UFJ said the yen remained weak early this week, with USD/JPY back above 160. Markets have almost fully priced in a BOJ rate hike at the June 16 meeting; even if a hike occurs, it is unlikely on its own to reverse yen weakness. The bank warned that failure to follow with further hikes would likely prompt a larger negative market reaction and reinforce investor concerns the BOJ is lagging on inflation risk, and reiterated its view that the yen may stay weak near term until the worst of the energy-price shock abates.

Hong Kong internet and tech stocks rose, with Tencent Holdings (00700.HK) up over 3%; JD Health (06618.HK), Baidu (09888.HK), Tencent Music (01698.HK) and NetEase-S (09999.HK) also advanced.